


Dead Secrets

by Againstme



Series: Drabbles I write because I feel like it sometimes [10]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast), The Adventure Zone : Amnesty (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Drabble, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-12 01:02:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18435800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Againstme/pseuds/Againstme
Summary: “Aubrey, do you know what a decomposing body looks like?”





	Dead Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers ep25  
> CW Mentions of vomit

_“Aubrey, do you know what a decomposing body looks like?”_

Ned doesn’t know why he’s thinking about that conversation right now.

_“Super gross and like smelly and stuff, right?”_

It’s such a meaningless conversation. Ned doesn’t even remember where it happened.

_Ned laughs._

Probably the set of Saturday Night Dead.

_“It’s much worse than that,”_

Or outside the Hornets’ bar.

_“The skin sags, but the body grows stiff. All the gas needs to be expelled somehow, so the room it's in ends up smelling worse than the shadiest roadside gas station toilet you can imagine. If you wait long enough, fungus goes through-”_

Or anywhere else, really. God knows Ned talks too much.

_“Gross! Ned, stop.”_

He realizes now, that in his bullshit he wasn’t entirely wrong. The smell, the sight, it’s… a lot. Ned feels like he’s going to be sick.

_Ned laughs_.

It all jerks upwards so suddenly, he doesn’t have time to stop it. He doesn’t even get to the garbage.

Aubrey’s immediately by his side, “Are you okay?”

Ned nods wordlessly, trying to keep it from happening again. 

Aubrey frowns, a concerned look painting itself on her face, “Look, I know its gruesome. If you want you can wait outside, be on lookout duty.”

Ned wishes he could say yes. Ned wants so bad to be out of this room, to be away from the body, to make Boyd hold his promise and never make Ned see him again.

But now… Ned’s realizing he probably hasn’t spoken to Boyd since he first got all of his stuff stolen.

Ned’s realizing he probably gave the sculpture to the abomination, not Boyd.

Well, one issue at a time.

Ned stands up again, pretending to clean the specks of vomit off his clothes, “I’m all good, Aubrey. I was simply, overcome by the smell and, well, my stomach isn’t as strong as it used to be.”

Aubrey looks at him, then at Boyd’s motionless body, “Okay, but leave if you think you’re going to be sick again. We don’t want too much of your DNA to be here, even with the sheriff in the know.”

Ned nods, and they go back to inspecting the room. Aubrey steers clear of the body, but Ned can’t keep himself from looking at it.

Ned feels as if the eyes are slowly following him as he makes his way around the room, too distracted to be of any real use. They seem to be glued to him, no matter where he is. Intense, open, and dead. So, so, so dead.

“Ned?” He jumps at the sound of his name, almost expecting it to be said with that English accent. He turns and sees Aubrey crouching next to the body.

He hadn’t noticed her there.

“Yes?”

“Do you know who this is? Because it’s not someone I’ve seen in Kepler, and with the abomination specifically targeting people to cause conflict, I don’t see why it would kill someone just passing through.” 

A million words slip into his mind at once, a million ideas he wants to speak out loud. 

Ned could come clean, about everything right now, and try and pick up the pieces of what’s left of his friendship with Aubrey with his ex-partner dead in the room.

Ned could say yes, talk about how he used to steal things with him. Leave out the story about the pendant and the fire, open up the way to finally coming clean to her about everything.

Ned could say yes, leave it vague, ask Aubrey to bring him back, to give Boyd a chance to live again. Ned had meant it when he told Boyd he never wanted to see him again. He still doesn’t want to see him, but this end just isn’t right.

None of those answers feel right, no matter how much he wants to say them.

“No, I don’t know who this is.” The words feel bitter before they’ve even left his mouth.

Ned Chicane’s tired of keeping secrets. 

But sometimes, they’re all he has left.

**Author's Note:**

> Posted first on tumblr @tarkesian  
> Comments appreciated!  
> Hope you enjoyed


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